Daring duo chased by pack of dogs

A plucky pair who are attempting a world first by travelling the globe on a tandem have been chased by a pack of dogs during their mammoth trek.

George Agate, 23, from Pulborough and pal John Whybrow, 24, from Hunstanton have also faced a string of other near misses in their on-going journey.

Lost among crowds during part of their mammoth trek

As well as the dog chase in Romania, the pair were hit by a bus in Austria and caught up in a military coup in Turkey.

The daring duo are currently about a third of the way through their feat.

They are aiming for an entry in the Guinness Book of Records by becoming the first ever team to circumnavigate the globe – a whopping 18,000 miles – by tandem cycle.

They set off from Canterbury on June 8 and have now completed 6,000 miles across 15 countries.

They are currently in Thailand about to cross into Malaysia.

“It’s been a lot of fun, but it has certainly had its tough times,” said George, a former Midhurst Grammar School pupil.

The two men cycled through a two-week monsoon in India, causing five punctures in a single week.

George added: “Some people think it’s a holiday, but sitting on a piece of leather the size of your hand for eight to ten hours a day isn’t like any holiday I’ve ever been on.”

The next leg of their journey will take them from Perth in Western Australia, across the Nullarbor desert, through Melbourne and Sydney, and up to Brisbane on the east coast – a mammoth 2,000 miles in a single country.

After Australia and New Zealand, they will then fly to San Francisco and follow the Pan-American highway down to Colombia in South America, before flying back to Europe for a final sprint through Spain and France.

The men, who met while studying at the University of Kent in Canterbury, hope to complete their challenge in under 300 days, thereby setting a new official Guinness world record.

John added: “It’s just one of those mad ideas you come up with. The difference being, we actually went through with it. It was 18 months of planning but it’s all been worth it.

The pair are also aiming to raise £100,000 along the way for their three chosen charities, Porchlight in Canterbury, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and WaterAid.

Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has agreed to be patron of the expedition.

“I wish the chaps all the best on their tandem journey, and here’s to the world record.”

For updates and pictures, visit The Tandem Men on Facebook. To follow their blog and live gps tracker, go to www.thetandemmen.com.